The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-04-01
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

The very meritorious translation of Hon
ore de Balzac, now being published by the
house of Roberts Brothers, Boston port
land; Loring, Short & Harmony, will, we
believe, bring to the works of this great
writer thousands of readers to whom his
marvellous creations have been hitherto a
sealed book. A certain class Of French noy-
els and plays has been finely translated or
adapted into English and given not very
exalted fame to our Gallo brethren of the
quill, however palateable its seasoning may
have been to a pretty general taste; but Bal
FAC has not been generally read in this
country, and hosts of readers will now
be introduced to him for the first time. Bal
zae was born in $780, and up to the age of
thirty-two turned out a great number of
works of fiction, some of them giving high
promise Of greater things, and all of them
tinged with the peculiar genius of the au
thor, who wrote under various fictitious
names. In 1881 he began the great work of
his life, under the general title The Comedy
of Human Life, it being series of novels,
tales and romances, in which he has exhaust
ed the various phases of humanity, sounded
the depths of the human heart, printed in
rich, enduring colors the nobility of man.
and laid bare, with the scalpel of master
anatomist the mean, sordid and criminal parts
of his character
The two subdivisions of his great comedy
that lie before us, each in one volume, are
Scenes From Partisan Life. Cousin Pons,"
and Scenes From Country Life. The Coun-
try Doctor" The former depicts the simple
life of an artist of the empire out of date
with the changeable population of Paris
and having Off we except his weakness for
the pleasures of gastronomy) one grand pas
sion-the collection of works of art and
bric-a-brac. So plain hero would seem to
afford but little scope for the genius Of the
author; but he raises in us for the artist and
his bosom friend so much of love, pity and
sympathy that we feel as though dear old
friend had departed when he lays him in his
grave. His relations, who make his life
miserable by their selfish, heartless neglect
and scorn, are living creatures, who draw
down our contempt and hatred, the more
intense by contrast with their poor victim.
The story of the Country Doctor is made
the vehicle of more profound philosophy
though perhaps it but seems the more pro-
found because it touches nobler chords and
penetrates to darker and less fathomed
depths of the human heart Monsieur Be-
nassis, the central figure of the story, has
been man of wealth and fashion, who has
suffered so painfully for his sinful follies
that he has withdrawn himself wholly from
the frivolities and designations of Partisan
life, and devotes himself to the spiritual and
physical amelioration of the peasants dwell
ing among the beautiful hills and wales
where he casts his lot The soldier. the mer-
chant, the priest, the ploughman, the arti-
san, the matron, the coquette, all contribute
to fill up the romance which the author
weaves about the good Doctor, from whose
lips drop pearls of philosophy and wisdom
upon almost every question Of human life.
We take it to be quite impossible to sketch
these novels of Balzac. They are rather
studies of life, drawn with profound and
subtle severity of logic, keen, yet sympa-
thetic analysis of emotions and depth and
boldness OF philosophy which awaken re
sponses in our hearts and fill us with admit
ration, We have not spoken of Balzac's
strong true descriptive powers, nor of many
other striking traits of his genius, but we
have no space for more. He cannot be de-
picted fairly-he must be read.
The name of the translator does not an
pear, and we would like to know it. All the
volumes seem to be done by the same hand,
and the work is entitled to the highest
praise.